Feevees give genre a reality check
Programmers hope new skeins are survivors
Sony Pictures Entertainment's action and adventure channel AXN certainly hopes not. It has signed up seven new reality shows for its first quarter X-Zone offering to follow its success with "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race."
According to AXN VP of programming and acquisition Betty Tsui, there's plenty of life in the genre yet. "Reality is much broader than just the gameshow formats, and this has been a popular part of our programming since day one," she says
Tsui explains that different veins of reality fare variously by market, giving as examples the channel's Mandarin Chinese-lingo version of "Ripley's Believe or Not" and "World's Most Amazing Videos."
"These two shows have done well in South Asia and the Philippines, and the reality gameshows tend to fare better in South East Asia rather than North Asia," she says.
As for Columbia TriStar Intl. Television's plans to create a regional reality show, plans are still under wraps. "To coordinate it across our various regions is taking time," she says.
'Real' TV
Discovery Asia senior veep Lesley Campbell says the essence of its "Get Real" show, still airing, is watching experiences that the viewer can win the chance to participate in. "We've always been about real-world entertainment, and the reason some reality TV is losing its appeal is that it has ceased to be real or relevant."
Referring to "Big Brother"-style shows, she adds, "Manufactured reality, the hot-housing of individuals, contains morbid, short-lived fascination."
Campbell also believes reality is far too broad a description for many different sub-groups of programming -- a sentiment echoed by MTV Asia senior VP of network editorial David Flack.
Flack says fads often wane Stateside just as they are taking off in Asia. "But like any fad, the market's been flooded, and only the best concepts will survive. 'It's My Life' has been very popular, and we are embarking upon its second season in Asia with a fresh spin; focussing on young people's lives as it does, it's such a part of what MTV is about. As for reality TV itself, you can't write off an entire genre because audiences are tiring of one show that is a small part of the whole."
